European Bio-Energy Projects

CATLIQ Challenges
Objectives
The overall objective of the project is to
develop a catalytic process for the
conversion of biomass with a high water
content into fuels for energy production.
The process will treat several feed types,
like sewage sludge or liquid manure, at a
considerably lower price than conventional
conversion processes. The organic fraction
of the biomass is converted into hydrogen,
methane and liquid fuels like hydrocarbons
or alcohols. One objective of the project is
to control the fuel composition by
controlling the process conditions. Another
objective of the project is to study the
performance of the catalyst under applied
process conditions.
In particular, the objective of the project
is to demonstrate the process, first in
laboratory scale and then by operating
a proof-of-concept plant with a capacity
of 100 kg/h sewage sludge. The results
of the POC plant tests will serve for the
optimisation of the process, and as a design
basis for a full-scale demonstration plant.
Catalytic conversion
of aqueous biomass
The flow sheet of the catalytic conversion
process, named the CatLiq process, is shown in
figure 1. The feed is mixed into a re-circulation
stream, heated and fed to the catalytic reactor
in which the biomass is converted. Upon
depressurisation the product is separated into
gas and liquid fuels, and the liquid fuel is further
separated into oil and water-soluble substances.
The major challenges of the project are technical
issues connected to the catalytic conversion; how
to avoid catalyst de-activation, and the formation
of soot or tars during pre-heating of the feed.
Another important issue is to control the fate of
the inorganic fraction of the biomass, i.e. to
prevent accumulation of inorganic particulate
in the process equipment.
Further challenges are how to achieve full
conversion of the biomass organics and, at the
same time, force the product composition
towards a desired fuel type by controlling the
process conditions.
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Expected impact and exploitation
The knowledge created in the project will be
used to design and verify a process for catalytic
conversion of all kinds of biomass with high
water content, constituting an economical,
competitive alternative to conventional treatment
processes for such wastes. The process will be
made available to the market worldwide and is
expected to create a number of impacts.
One impact is to provide a means for treating
aqueous organic wastes at a considerably lower
cost than conventional processes, like farmland
deposition. The treatment plants are scalable to
be installed directly at the various waste sources,
like waste water treatment facilities, industrial
waste sources etc., and are expected to create
widespread employment at the waste generation
facilities. Another impact is that the process is
a source of CO2 neutral fuels, with the fuel type
being adaptable to local requirements.